Open Communities FY2021 filing
Educates, advocates, and organizes for fair and inclusive suburban communities. For fiscal year 2021 it reported $990K in revenue, $806K in expenses, and $341K in net assets.Pt I
- Founded
- 1977
- Type
- Public charity (501(c)(3)) · Housing
- Location
- Evanston, IL
- Website
- www.open-communities.org
- Filings
- 5 on file (2020–2021)
More identity details & actions ⌄
This section is blank until Open Communities claims this page.
Know this organization? Claim it to add your story
Summary of the Filing
Where the work happens
The organization provides fair housing support of residents in north suburban chicago. Services include housing counseling,resolution of landlord tenant disputes, foreclosure protection and enforcement of fair housing laws.
Run this program? Claim this org to tell your story
Identity & Classification
Governance & Policies
Officers, Directors & Key Employees
Cheryl Lawrence’s $130K as Former CEO is at the 59th percentile of top reported officer pay among 2025 $1–10M housing nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 2 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2024 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheryl Lawrence | $130,000 | $129,999 | $130,333 | — |
| Mary Ellen Ball | — | — | — | $115,043 |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
See Open Communities executive salaries →Are you one of these people? Claim this org to confirm your role
Statement of Revenue
Statement of Functional Expenses
Balance Sheet
Financial Metrics
Same NTEE category, revenue band, and state where available. Descriptive — not a grade.
| Metric | This org | Peer median | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Program ratio | 80% | — | — |
| Overhead ratio | 15% | — | — |
| Fundraising cost ratio | 5% | — | — |
| Revenue growth | 29% | — | — |
| Legal fee ratio | 1% | — | — |
Straight from the Form 990 — descriptive, not an evaluation. A ratio is hidden when its base is zero or too small to be meaningful; the dollars are always shown.
Grants
Similar Organizations
Compare
Filings & Schedule Manifest
Want to add your own materials alongside these filings? Claim this org
Sources
Names, privacy, and removal requests More
The names, titles, and compensation shown on this page are reproduced from IRS Form 990 filings, which are public records.
Philanthropy.org does not alter the content of those filings. All information appears exactly as reported by the filing organization for the tax year shown.
We publish only information contained in the public IRS filing — and less than the filing contains. Our profile pages do not display street addresses, telephone numbers, personal email addresses, or other personal contact information, even where the filing includes them.
Many people share the same name. A name shown on this page reflects only what one organization reported in one IRS filing for one tax year. It should not be interpreted as identifying any other individual with the same or a similar name.
If you are no longer affiliated with the organization, your name will generally stop appearing in future IRS filings once the organization no longer reports you. Pages for tax years in which you were reported remain published because those filings remain part of the public record.
Philanthropy.org does not alter or remove IRS filing records. Removing a page from this website would not remove the underlying IRS filing, which remains publicly available from the IRS and other publishers of the same information.
If you believe the IRS filing itself is inaccurate, corrections must be made by the filing organization or the IRS directly.
If you ARE the filing organization, claim this org and add context
Made it to the end? Claim this organization